T&T License Plate Date/Age Guide

Ever wondered or needed to know what year a license plate was issues in Trinidad and Tobago? This is usually helpful when buying a used car and you are trying figure out when the car was licensed, the age of the vehicle and how much you would have to pay to transfer the vehicle. In the case of Roll-On Roll-Off (RORO) cars, this can get tricky as is not really a good indication of the age of the vehicle, but rather refers to when the car was licensed in T&T. So it’s important to find out from the seller if the car was purchased from a local dealership or if it was a RORO import. Here is a quick guide to help you figure out what year a license plate was issued. For more tips on buying a used car check out our TTAutoGuide News Blog.

Vehicle registration plates in Trinidad and Tobago are categorized using prefixes based on the type of vehicle and feature up to four succeeding digits. Registration plates in Trinidad and Tobago are supposed to be either white figures on a black background or black figures on a white background. All motor vehicles that are operating in the roads of Trinidad and Tobago are required by law to have a registration plate affixed to the front and rear of the vehicle at all times except during very specific situations. This current system has been present for over 40 years.

T&T License Plate Date/Age Guide

How much does it cost?

The transfer fee is TT$10.00. The transfer taxes vary according to the (license) age of the vehicle:

New Transfer Taxes (as of October 1 2009):

Cars
$6000 – Under 2 years
$4500 – Over 2 years but not over 5 years
$3000 – Over 5 years but not over 7 years
$1350 – Over 7 years but not over 10 years
$0150 – Over 10 years

Each registration number begins with a letter designating type of vehicle.

Plates for each type are issued in alphabetical order, with the letters CG, I, Q, and V excluded so as to avoid conflict with 1, O and diplomatic including the military and coast guard initials.

Special plates

• The President’s official state car usually bears the Trinidad and Tobago Coat of Arms instead of a registration number.
• The Prime Minister’s official state car usually bears the registration PM 1 or PDM 1
• The Trinidad and Tobago Regiment bears a registration mark starting with TTR. Eg. 1 TTR 3
• Defense Force vehicles bear a registration mark starting with TTDF. Eg, 1 TTDF 4
• Coast Guard vehicles bear a registration mark starting with TTCG . Eg. 1 TTCG 2
• Voluntary Defence Force vehicles bear a registration mark starting with VDF. Eg. 1 VDF 5
• Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard vehicles bear a registration mark starting with TTAG. Eg. 1 TTAG 13

The current series which became effective the third week of September 2016 is “DN”: Example PDN 1000, HDN 800, TDN 23, etc.

There has been officially over one million vehicles registered for use on the roads of Trinidad & Tobago.

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